Gov. Jerry Brown received mixed reviews from the immigrant community Monday for signing a bill that grants driver's licenses to some undocumented immigrants while vetoing other bills that would have limited deportations and strengthened labor protections.

Late Sunday night, Brown signed into law Assembly Bill 2189, which allows the Department of Motor Vehicles to issue driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants who qualify for work permits under the Obama administration's federal deferred action proceedings.

The bill author, Assemblyman Gil Cedillo, D-Los Angeles, said it would make the roads safer and help young people drive, legally, to work.

"It is a victory for those who were brought here through no choice of their own, played by the rules, and are only asking to be included in and contribute to American society," Cedillo said in a statement.

But the young California immigrants directly affected by the bill weren't so quick to thank the governor.

The deferred action program offers temporary work permits to undocumented immigrants under 30 years old who were brought to the country before they were 16 if they have no criminal record and have graduated from high school, earned a GED or served in the military.

Only a few dozen individuals have been approved for deferred action and granted work permits since the Department of Homeland Security began accepting applications on Aug. 15, but those few have been able to obtain a driver's license in California because the DMV already accepts federal work permits as a valid form of documentation.

"It was a symbolic bill. It wasn't signed to change anything," said San Fernando resident Jorge Resendez of the San Fernando Valley Dream Team, one of several groups advocating for the rights of undocumented immigrants.

The issue also had been settled in some states like Texas, Virginia and Oregon, all of which have decided driver's licenses may be issued to immigrants covered by deferred action.

Rather than celebrate, Resendez and others were frustrated by Brown's decision Sunday to veto two bills activists say could have made more impact for the immigrant community.

One was Assembly Bill 889, known as the California Domestic Worker Bill of Rights. It was designed to ensure working undocumented immigrants such as housekeepers, child-care providers and caregivers are not excluded from basic labor protections such as overtime pay, and meal and rest breaks.

The other was Assembly Bill 1081, dubbed the Trust Act, that could have protected illegal immigrants from deportation if they committed minor infractions.

"He had an opportunity to create real change in the immigrant community by signing other bills that would have protected our parents," Resendez said.

The Trust Act would have allowed California to opt out of some parts of a federal program that requires local law enforcement officers to check the fingerprints of people they arrest against a federal immigration database and hold those who are in the country illegally.

It would have prohibited local law enforcement officers from detaining suspects for possible deportation unless they are charged with serious or violent felonies.

Since 2009, California law enforcement officials have turned over about 80,000 illegal immigrants for deportation even though fewer than half had committed a serious or violent felony.

Still, some say Brown's decision to sign the driver's license bill is significant, especially in light of decisions by Arizona and Nebraska to deny driver's licenses to anyone who benefits from the federal relief.

"It codifies what we already knew so that undocumented immigrants who qualify for deferred action can without a doubt be eligible for a driver's license," said Joseph Villela, director of policy and advocacy for the Coalition of Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, a nonprofit organization that focuses on immigrant rights.

Randy Jurado Ertll, executive director of the Pasadena-based El Centro de Accion Social and a social advocate, believes Brown's signing of the driver's license bill will benefit all involved.

"It's a good thing to know who is driving on our roads (and) if people who are undocumented are involved in accidents that endanger other people's lives ... it allows them to get car insurance," Ertll said. "I think it makes it safer for everyone."

It also would add revenue to the state since more people would be paying DMV fees, he added.

"It's a win-win for the undocumented individuals who will be able to get a driver's license and it will benefit law enforcement, the insurance industry and the DMV," Ertll said.

For Areli Jimenez, a 21-year-old student at California State University, Dominguez Hills, in Carson, the law simply means she'll no longer need to hop on a bus for an hourlong commute each way between campus and South Los Angeles.

"I'm very happy about it," said Jimenez, the president of a campus club called Espiritu de Nuestro Futuro, which serves as a support group for undocumented students.

Last month, Jimenez - a junior studying business and marketing - applied for the work permit made possible by Obama's program.

Jimenez, who crossed the border from Mexico with her father at 3, said she has struggled to find a job. The new laws enabling her to work and drive will benefit a generation of students, she said.

"It will definitely help all of us achieve higher than our parents," she said. "That's the main reason our parents brought us here."

Miguel Montalva also applied for the deferred action policy. If his application is approved, the 28-year-old Santa Ana resident will be eligible for a California driver's license.

Montalva, who in March 2011 received his master's degree in sociology from Cal State Los Angeles, said life without a driver's license is "incredibly difficult," as a 30-minute commute by car can turn into a three-hour trek by public transit.

"Living in Orange County and going to school in Los Angeles was rough. I was limited on what classes I could take because of the time it would take using public transportation to get home," Montalva said. "Sometimes I had to crash at someone's place because I missed the train back to Santa Ana."

But Resendez contends the driver's license bill has a fatal flaw.

"Whatever administration comes next can get rid of this right all together ... so if Gov. Brown really wanted change he wouldn't have hinged it on the deferred action program," Resendez said. "The DMV should be able to issue licenses to youth regardless of DACA."

Jorge Adrian Cabrera, a "dreamer" with Dream Team Los Angeles, warned the law is limited.

"While California is OK with it, I think it's going to prompt other states to interpret DACA the way they want now," Cabrera said, saying a driver's license issued to an undocumented immigrant in California state may not be honored if the person moves to another state.

"In California, all you need to register to vote is a driver's license, and with our new online registration that just came online several days ago, you just input your driver's license, print it out, and mail it in," he said.

Assemblyman Curt Hagman, R-Chino Hills, who also voted against the bill said the law is premature.

"Right now, we're basing the driver's license bill after a presidential order that may or may not stay in place in the next few months," Hagman said. "It's a lot of work and expense for families and the state of California to put in action this program until we find out whether this is going to be a permanent solution or a temporary one."

Donnelly added that the action just muddles the issue.

"On one hand we say we don't want people coming into the country illegally. (But) we're handing out driver's licenses and saying, `By the way, if you come into the state illegally, you can have gateway identification,"' he said.